A Comfort from the Past
by life.rhapsody
Summary: KakaIru. A companion piece to "Ours". Iruka finds Kakashi in a rather strange situation...


AN: Another companion piece to "Ours". This came about after seeing a photograph...yeah.

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Iruka walked into the house with a grateful smile; grateful that tomorrow was Saturday, meaning that he could sleep in, at least a bit, and finally relax without having to worry about grading or the mission room. Instead, he can spend some quality time with Minoru and Kakashi.

His smile grew as he slipped off his flak jacket and toed off his sandals. He tugged off his hitai ate, loose strands of hair falling to frame his face instead. He let his hitai ate rest on top of the nearby shelf before walking down the hall and looked into the living room. He froze in his tracks as his eyes fell on Tomodachi, but what he found strange were the pair of legs that the golden dog _wasn't _covering. He did, however, noticed the silver hair that poked out from underneath Tomodachi's sleeping head. It was a strange sight really, one that made Iruka tilt his head to make sure he was looking at it right. Kakashi was sleeping on the couch, laying on his stomach, while Tomodachi did the same, but instead of the couch, he was using Kakashi's torso.

After a moment of taking the sight in, and going completely unnoticed, Iruka had to suppress a laugh. He covered his mouth when a chuckle nearly escaped, and walked down the hall and towards Minoru room to only find the young boy in the study instead.

"What are you up to?" Iruka asked with curiosity when it looked as if Minoru was looking for something.

"Uh, just looking for the camera," Minoru closed a drawer and opened another.

Iruka quirked an eyebrow, "Why?"

Minoru looked at Iruka and grinned, "Did you see Kakashi-dad and Tomo-kun?"

Iruka chuckled and walked over to the desk to open a different drawer, "It's in here whenever you need it."

Minoru's grin widened as he took the camera and made his way into the living room, Iruka followed. He silently moved closer and composed the perfect snapshot of his dad with a living dog blanket on his back.

Kakashi cracked open an eye when he heard the almost silent shutter of the camera close and open. He blinked away the sleep and looked at his husband when he heard him chuckle and then laugh. That's when he noticed something rather heavy on his back. It was warm. But it was also beginning to drool a bit. He frowned and turned his head to only see golden fur and a blue, "Tomodachi!" He scowled when the dog didn't move, but only grunted in response, "Damnit, Tomodachi, get off of me!" He blushed when he heard both Minoru and Iruka burst out laughing, and thought about just how ridiculous he – _they _– must look at the moment. He opened his mouth to scold at the golden dog that was currently using him as a bed when a wet tongue happily licked at his cheek before the weight lifted and hopped off the couch.

Tomodachi pounced on Minoru, resting his front paws on the boy's shoulder, to lick at the young boy's face in greeting, earning him a cheerful laugh before moving towards Iruka, "He makes a good pillow, huh?"

Iruka blushed but laughed anyway when he heard Kakashi's low growl.

Later on, he still didn't know why Tomodachi was sleeping on Kakashi, but it was a scene he would never forget, even if he didn't have physical proof that he would later use to tease the older man with.

But a few days later, while Minoru did his target practice in the backyard with Kakashi, he sat down next to the golden dog that watched from afar.

"Tomodachi, can I ask you something?"

Tomodachi looked at Iruka, "Sure, what is it?"

Iruka chuckled, "It's about that day that you were sleeping on Kakashi…you know, in the living room. I was just curious…as to why?"

Tomodachi glanced at Minoru when he cheered for reaching two hundred points, "While you were gone, Kakashi summoned me to keep an eye on Minoru while he took a nap, saying that he felt rather tired. He ended up falling asleep on the couch and I kept Minoru company until you came back. Well, I checked on him when I felt his chakra flare, subtly, but it did," he tilted his head, "You know, Kakashi used to have a lot of nightmares after Sakumo passed, and the only way we were able to comfort him was to gather around him, on him, and he found comfort in that…since he didn't have anyone else…"

Iruka looked at Kakashi as Tomodachi spoke to him. He knew about the nightmares, and he knew that they had receded since he retired. Even though, there were still those nights that they haunted him, but thankfully, they weren't as bad as they used to be.

"So, we became used to his nightmares," Tomodachi continued, noticing Iruka's silence, "Became aware of the signs, like the flares of chakra. So, since you weren't home yet…I did what I – _we _– always did. I just laid on top of him to let him know that he wasn't alone, you know?" He looked at Iruka and his gaze was returned, "Minoru found me laying on top of him and gave me a curious look, but he understood pretty quickly and just gave me a smile and a nod."

Iruka smiled and looked back at his husband and Minoru, grimacing when Minoru nearly nicked Kakashi, earning him a frown behind a mask. He looked back at the golden dog sitting next to him and reached out to lovingly scratch behind Tomodachi's ear, "Thank you," he said with a warm smile.

Tomodachi nuzzled the tan hand in response before playfully licking it, "No need to thank me, Iruka-sensei. If anything, we should thank you."

Iruka smiled and patted Tomodachi's head as he looked across the yard to the older man, his husband.

The look that Tomodachi gave him, something that looked a lot like a grin, went unnoticed.


End file.
